Sheikh Muhammad al-Gazali, a renowned Egyptian religious scholar who died in March 1996, ignited a debate within Islamic circles on the question of apostasy when he testified, in July 1993, at the trial of 13 Islamic militants accused of killing the Egyptian writer Farag Foda. Foda was an outspoken critic of radical Islamists, who accused him of apostasy. Al-Ghazali ruled than an apostate should be given time to repent. But his support of ultimately carrying out a death penatly roused other scholars to argue for leniency and a reinterpretation of Islamic law on this issue.
"Those who blasphemed and back away from the ways of Allah and die as blasphemers, Allah shall not forgive them." (Nisa Ayah, 48)
The Koran is not explicit on this point, however. And many Muslim scholars argue that punishment for apostates and blasphemers is not be exacted on earth, but by God. They point to a verse in the Koran (Nisa Ayah, 48) that speaks only of Allah's retribution: "Those who blasphemed and back away from the ways of Allah and die as blasphemers, Allah shall not forgive them."